1968 Kerner Commission: What Can We Learn 50 Years Later? Steve Gillon and Alan Curtis in Conversation with Karen M. Turner

1968 Kerner Commission: What Can We Learn 50 Years Later? Steve Gillon and Alan Curtis in Conversation with Karen M. Turner

Klein College of Media and Communication

1968 was a year that changed our world. The year brought us both the King and Kennedy assassinations and the opening Off-Broadway of "The Boys in the Band," the groundbreaking play featuring gay characters. Women’s liberation groups protested the Miss America contest and Tommie Smith and John Carlos clenched their fists in a black power salute at the Mexico City Summer Olympic Games. New York democrat Shirley Chisholm was elected as the first Black female U.S. Representative and students protested at Columbia University, in Mexico City, and around Europe. Locally, four Black boys entered Girard College after a 14-year desegregation battle and Progress Plaza was dedicated as an example of positive urban renewal and investment.